


This Is the Other Story

by generalzero



Series: This Is the Other Story [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Child Abuse, Courage, Emotional Abuse, Gaslighting, Gen, Love, Manipulation, Non-Linear Narrative, Not-a-total-asshole Severus Snape, Physical Abuse, Recovery, Resurrection, Self-Harm, The character death tag is Harry obv, The shit this child goes through, Verbal Abuse, What-If, but I mean everyone knows he lives, even if the dursleys never laid a hand on harry, hp headcanon, i am ready to fight on this topic, i don't see this addressed in canon or fanon, isolation tactics, mention of suicide, narcissistic mother - Freeform, outside POVs, psychological abuse, they were still abusing him, via Umbridge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-08-11 11:25:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7889827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/generalzero/pseuds/generalzero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the other abused!Harry story.</p><p>The one where the Dursleys don't hit Harry or keep him in the cupboard. Where they buy him new glasses each year and make him dress properly in clothes that fit him. Where Aunt Petunia searches high and low for professional styling gel for Harry's unruly hair, to make it behave. Where Harry dutifully puts it on every morning, even though it never works, bc he doesn't want to disappoint Aunt Petunia.</p><p>The one where Harry gets excellent grades bc he doesn't want to end up like his no-good parents. Where he always receives just as many presents as Dudley bc he and his cousin are Petunia and Vernon's entire world. Where he never, never breaks the rules.</p><p>The one where Petunia tries to civilize the magic out of Harry. Where she tries to bribe it out of him with love. Where the Dursleys treat Harry just fine.</p><p>Just fine.</p><p>(Not really.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Petunia Dursley

**Author's Note:**

> So I dig through the abuse tags on this site pretty regularly and something I've noticed is a dearth of stories about abuse that is not sexual or physical. Obviously, most sexual and physical abuse is accompanied at least in part by emotional/verbal/psychological abuse, but the latter often occurs without the former. As a survivor of this kind of abuse I wish I could see more fics that validated my experiences without having to feel like I'm creeping in on someone else's party. Hence, this monster.
> 
> My trigger/tagging/warning policy: I err in the side of caution. This fic is dark. Heed the tags.  
> Disclaimer for entire fic: JKR owns HP and can take my money anytime she wants.

**This is the story of how an old man leaves a baby on a doorstep in the dead of night on Halloween, and sets a precedent in doing so.**

* * *

 

_Petunia Dursley still flinches when she sees her sister’s green eyes in the child’s face. She still reads the letter twice over without making a move to bring the infant inside—for once in her life, she pays no mind to spying neighbors._

* * *

 

**This is the story of how, instead of all but abandoning Lily’s child, Petunia decides to take him as her own—take him and make him so completely her own that it will be like he was never Lily’s in the first place. How Petunia’s spite and vengeance are channeled into proving that Petunia could, in this one thing, do better than Lily.**

* * *

 

_She almost changes the boy’s name, just as she almost decides he should call her Mum. But the wizards are touchy about such things and somehow the resolution just keeps slipping from her mind, like sleight of hand (like magic), until it’s too late. Duddy-kins is calling the child “Hawee” and Harry answers back to it. Petunia decides that if she can not choose Harry’s name then he should not call her Mum. She remains Aunt Petunia._

_Vernon grumbles at first but he never refuses her anything and they both know it. He buys the story she sells him about their two brave boys, facing the frightening world together with nothing but her and Vernon to protect them. Vernon likes to feel useful. So she lets him keep the boys happy with games and googoo eyes and he lets her see to what’s best for them._

* * *

 

**This is the story of how Harry grows up believing that his parents died in a drunken car crash and that he was so lucky that his good-for-nothing mother had such a wonderful sister. How Harry believes Aunt Petunia loves him more than anything else in the world and would do anything to be worthy of that love—and Petunia is perfectly happy to explain to him her very reasonable standards for that as many times a day as it takes.**

* * *

 

_Petunia buys scar cream for Harry’s forehead and plays Beethoven in the nursery. She dresses the boys in matching, complementing wardrobes. As soon as they are able to grasp commands and objects she teaches them responsibility: put this away, keep that straight, no crumbs, no messes, be good. And before she turns out the light each night she tells them that she will always, always protect them._

_Harry and Dudley keep to themselves in primary school. They follow instructions and sit quietly in class. The teachers are delighted by such studious pupils. They always bring lunch because eating outside food is risky. They never stay after school or wander off the school grounds like the other kids because loitering is for lazy children, not perfect ones. They’re always dressed immaculately. They’re labeled ‘stuck-up’ by the other kids and Petunia reassures them that people are cruel, but if they behave and grow up right they’ll have the last word. She teaches them responsibility: put this away, keep that straight, no rude questions, no mistakes, be good. And before she turns out the light in their lavish, separate bedrooms each night she tells them that she will always, always protect them._

* * *

**This is the story of how, when the letter comes and Petunia realizes that she will lose this particular battle, she explains to Harry that he is going to be the finest wizard there ever was, even better than his good-for-nothing parents. How Petunia learns to use owl post and expects Harry to write a report on his behavior every week and come home for every holiday.**

* * *

 

_The accidental magic puts a kink in the regimen. It starts a divide between Dudley and Harry. Petunia stresses self-control to Harry and suggests he take Dudley as an example. Dudley’s stocky bone structure becomes less adorable as he leaves infanthood: Petunia stresses self-control to him and suggests he take slender Harry as an example. She scolds Vernon for spoiling them both. The differences pile up, scraping the edges of her control. Harry needs glasses; Dudley doesn’t. Harry takes to reading; Dudley takes to sports. Harry is obviously a wizard; Dudley most likely not._

_When the letter comes, it is addressed to Mr. H. Potter in the second bedroom and Petunia does not waste time running away from the inevitable. Her reply to McGonagall is effusively courteous and full of enquiries about Hogwarts’s expectations, safety precautions and teacher credentials. The trip to Diagon Alley sparks Petunia and Harry’s first fight: Petunia buys Harry the best of everything and more besides, but Harry (only eleven and easily distracted by every passing display of magic) fails to be properly grateful. Petunia takes several hours to explain to him how he is a young man now and he must learn responsibility: put this away, keep that straight, no attitudes, no mistakes, be good. And just before he gets on the Hogwarts Express she put as hand on each of his shoulders, the closest she ever gets to hugging him, and tells him to make her proud and she will always, always protect him._

* * *

**This is the story of how every time Harry writes Petunia about dark lords and homesickness and culture shock and loneliness, she tells him to work harder and do better and ignore the wizards’ backwards ideas. Petunia makes sure that Harry knows he has no one to depend on but her—and in a den of mistrustful snakes (the Sorting Hat hisses Slytherin for Harry almost as fast as it does for Malfoy) it takes a long time and a few miracles for Harry to learn anything different.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you can relate to this pls review so i know you exist.


	2. Severus Snape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm continuing this because, with chapter one alone, this story is a tragedy--and yes, abuse of any form is a tragedy, but as a writer and a survivor I believe in (hard fought) happy endings. So permit me to try and weave one for Harry Potter just as I'm trying to weave one for myself--and to survivors reading this: don't give up on your happy ending.
> 
> A note on the headcanon: I have a specific headcanon in mind for events/pairings/etc in this universe, which I may write later in more traditional fic form rather than this weird snapshot style. I have kept the details specifically vague in this story to keep it accessible to fans with diverse headcanons.
> 
> If you're returning after reading Chapter 1 earlier, check the tags for new warnings.
> 
> A note on Snape: redeeming qualities aside, canon Snape is objectively a bitter, unkind person who harrasses/abuses his students, including Harry. If I believed in good and evil I do not know where Snape would fall on the spectrum, nor am I interested in debating it. Like a lot of people, I'm partial to him as a character and also to good!Snape (aka. Jerk with a Heart of Gold) fan characterizations, especially in abused!Harry stories. I'm not sure why this is a thing, would love to discuss that with anyone who has theories.

**This is the story of how the Potter boy is a terrible Slytherin. As could be expected, considering his sire. But then—and this drives the spy in Severus Snape mad with theories and suspicions—sometimes it seems like the child could out-Slytherin Salazar himself. The intrigue is great enough to partially distract Severus from his carefully hoarded preconceptions about the boy. Partially.**  

* * *

 

_Severus Snape almost dies from shock when Potter is sorted. He scowls at Dumbledore’s twinkling eyes and their implication that now he won’t be able to avoid bonding with the spawn of Potter. The old man has another thing coming._

_Fortunately, it’s not quite James-All-Over-Again as Severus expected. In fact, the boy is rather puzzling, although none of the other staff seem to notice it. The fools dote on him, though Potter pretends not to notice, and they follow up his smug competence with ever higher expectations—as does Severus, in his way. He heaps on disdain and detentions as a way to keep an eye on the boy, and if he enjoys it more than he should—well, Severus is no saint._

_The boy is a terrible Slytherin. He’s snobbish and aloof, which would admittedly be fine if he didn’t extend that attitude to those offering to help him. He’s nearly as conscientious about the rules as the Granger girl, except when he’s breaking them—again annoying but fine if he would make an effort not to get caught instead of turning himself in. He has a ridiculous Gryffindor-ish compulsion to run around making a martyr of himself—and then to reject any gratitude or accolades shown him._

_But then there are times when Severus catches the boy acting like a cleverer Slytherin than many students in the house currently: guarding his back and his interests with the alert calculation of someone who understands that fortune can change in an instant. Potter never says anything that could later be proved wrong or a lie, prefacing all his statements, even innocent obvious facts, with some form of “I heard” or “I thought”. It’s almost as if, Severus thinks more than once, Potter is a Slytherin wrapped in a Gryffindor-suit, or vice versa._

* * *

 

**This is the story of how, as years pass, it becomes evident that the Potter does not so much look for trouble as act like a helpless magnet for it. The troll, Hagrid’s baby dragon, Quirrell and the sodding stone, the bloody Chamber of Secrets, dementors, the wolf and the mutt… Severus eventually stops counting the incidents and the gray hairs they induce.**

* * *

 

_The number of life-threatening situations the boy manages to find himself is enough to try the patience of a saint, but it is partially understandable, given the fact that the Dark Lord is evidently still alive and still trying to kill the boy. What makes Severus want to dissolve Potter in a cauldron is that fact that he never, ever asks for help. Not once does he go to a teacher, but stranger still, neither does he enlist other students in his misadventures. Occasionally he’ll get mixed up with one group of classmates or another—like the Granger girl in first year and the Weasleys in second—but Potter doesn’t appear to have or want any friends. Even when it’s obvious how many other students would love to be connected to him, sincerely or otherwise._

* * *

**This is the story of how Harry Potter is nothing like his dead parents, either of them. How as Severus starts to see less of the parents and more of the student—and the utter enigma he is—he gathers that all is not well. How an angry letter from Petunia Dursley lets him guess why.**

* * *

 

_If there is a moment, for Severus, when things finally click, it’s when he happens to be looking right at Potter the moment the Goblet of Fire spits out his name. The boy’s eyes widen in shock and it is the first time Severus doesn’t see Lily in them—doesn’t see James in the way the Harry’s jaw sets in resignation—just a fourteen-year old boy far too young to be risking his life in this preposterous tournament._

_Severus is not about to trust Harry's luck to get him through the tournament, and knowing Harry will not ask for help himself, Severus does so for him. Nearly all the staff are involved in what amounts to cheating ring supporting Harry Potter, and Severus uses threats and detentions to pressgang those students who would likely be Harry's friends if Harry didn’t seem to be terrified of having them. Yes, terrified, not disdainful, as Severus first thought. Harry's aloofness, too, is evidently not due to pride but anxiety. The puzzle of Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived to Become a Terrible Slytherin, was starting to make a grim sort of sense._

_Then, shortly after the second task, Severus Snape starts receiving letters from dear old Tuney, who has obviously forgotten him or at least failed to make the connection between her sister’s childhood friend and her nephew’s head of house—much like Severus had failed to make the connection that Lily's jealous hag of a sister would be Harry’s guardian. The letters begin saccharinely sweet, inquiring why Harry has stopped writing her and then, since Severus gleefully leaves them unanswered, quickly morph into Howler-worthy outrage at having to hear about her nephew through the “freakish” Daily Prophet._

* * *

**This is the story of how midway through the first term of fifth year, Harry Potter comes to be standing in Severus Snape’s office with the weight of the world on his shoulders and with “I must not tell lies” carved into one hand with a blood quill—and into the other arm with a slicing spell. How he doesn’t cry (Severus has never seen Harry Potter cry) but his voice shakes as he says “I think I’m going crazy.”**

* * *

_Severus's instincts as a spy are the only thing that keep him from being visibly shocked when Harry shuffles into his office five minutes before curfew and, without preamble, takes off his gloves and rolls up his sleeve—although really he should have expected a breakdown, and sooner. The stress the child has gone through in the last year would overwhelm a grown wix: the sodding tournament, Diggory’s murder, the Dark Lord’s Rise, dementors (again), the Ministry trial, and nearly six months of being villainized from afar by the Daily Prophet and in person by High Inquisitor Um-Bitch… and by Petunia Dursley, judging from Potter's disjointed, rambling confession. Severus has no idea why Harry would come to him or what to do—except that something must be done._

* * *

  **This is the story of how, according Dumbledore, there’s nothing to do for it.**

* * *

 

_Severus wears his long-perfected obedient-spy expression and avoids eye contact as he stands in Dumbledore’s office, listening to variations of: “I’m sure it’s not as bad as all that. He’s not beaten or neglected, he’s safe inside the blood wards. He must stay there.” He silently curses the backwardness of pureblood culture and Dumbledore’s refusal to understand that Harry can’t save the wizarding world if he kills himself first. Severus thinks of the war and suddenly wonders just how far he is willing to go for Albus Dumbledore and for Harry Potter—and whether he will have to pick one or the other._


	3. Ginny Weasely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know that The Epiloque makes a lot of folks hate of Ginny, but tbh I frankly don't care either way. She gets a perspective in this story because it makes sense for her to have one: she is emotionally abused and manipulated by Tom Riddle (does possession count as physical abuse???) and recovers from that brilliantly and bravely (although Rowling unfortunately doesn't go into it much). She would absolutely recognize abuse signs in other people, including Harry.

**This is the story of how Ginny Weasely knows exactly what abuse looks like. How, even though she spent two years ruthlessly weeding all of Tom’s manipulations out of her psyche, one will always stay with her: “People lie all time.  They say they’re fine when inside they’re being eaten alive.” Ironically, the truth.**  

* * *

 

_But Tom, Ginny scribbles into the diary, holding back panicked tears, I can’t lie to Percy. Not about something like this! I can’t remember where I’ve been during all those attacks… Tom, I don’t know what to do._

_Ginevra, dear, don’t worry so much. People lie all the time…_

_And so Ginny tells everyone she’s fine while Tom Riddle eats her alive—that is, until Harry Potter saves her. Ginny isn’t physically hurt, besides a touch of shock to her magical core, but she is not fine. How can she be fine when despite knowing everything was a lie, she still misses her best friend Tom?_  

* * *

 

**This is the story of how it takes two years for Ginny to realize that ‘fine’ may never be an option for her, but that doesn’t mean she can’t keep _living_.** **How she sees herself—the old her, the victim—in so many of the people around her. How she picks them out by the odd word, the innocuous flinch, the smallest signs of behavior… She watches them and reaches out to them, until she finds herself the head of the smallest most pathetic ‘club’ Hogwarts has probably ever seen: the club for People Who Will Never Be Fine.**

* * *

 

_After Harry Potter’s name flies out of the Goblet of Fire and throws the whole school into chaos, Ginny begins earning weekly detentions with Prof. Snape. The first one is unexpected, bewildering—she swears her Swelling Solution was perfect!—but once she understands what Snape is asking of her she agrees that a few ‘detentions’ on her record are a small price to pay for helping out Harry, the strange Slytherin Boy Who Lived, who shrugged off the life-debt she owed him like it was nothing. (There are a surprising number of students serving special detentions with Snape during the Tournament.)_  

* * *

 

**This is the story of how Ginny realizes long before the disastrous Third Task that Harry Potter, of all people, is not fine. Not at all.**

* * *

 

_‘Do you think we should invite him to our club?’ Luna asks thoughtfully as she and Ginny drop off a late essay—which is really just two feet of parchment detailing her Sunday spent discreetly following around Fleur Delacour—at Snape’s office before they head down to dinner._

_‘Who? Snape?’ Ginny is used to Luna’s tendency to leap from topic to topic, but she still has some trouble following them occasionally._

_Luna crinkles her nose in consideration. ‘I think Professor Snape qualifies as not-fine, but I don’t think he’d appreciate the invitation. I meant Harry Potter.’_

* * *

 

**This is the story of how Ginny Weasely is not about to let Harry Potter be eaten alive, by guilt or Umbridge or anyone. How he doesn’t confide in her to start, but she makes sure he knows she’s there—that he has _friends_ , people he can rely on—and she doesn’t stop watching. How relieved she is to see that Prof. Snape trying to do something about it all.**

* * *

 

_After the Christmas holidays Harry smiles more. He doesn’t automatically decline when Ginny invites him for a game of wizards’ chess or a walk to the lake. His face doesn’t close up when someone harasses him for being a sneaky Slytherin or a liar or a celebrity. He even seems to enjoy baiting Snape during Potions now that the two have some mystifying secret understanding._

_Ginny watches until she learns which other students also care about Harry Potter rather than the Boy Who Lived. Hermione Granger mentions that he’s less petrified about grades during their study sessions in the library; Blaise Zabini shoves past her in the hallway on a day Harry misses all his classes—as he sneers at her to watch her step his eyes direct her to the crumbled note he’s dropped on the floor amongst the books he’s made her drop. Delicate script disappears afters she reads it: He’s fine. Milicent Bulstrode is skipping to keep him company._

_…and then the fight at the Ministry happens, and everything falls apart._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, this story is for all the People Who Never Be Fine.


	4. Harry Potter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end folks. Finally, Harry gets a voice in his own story, literally and metaphorically. This is his happy ending. I really hope you all can find yours.

 

**This is the story of the power that Lord Voldemort—and Petunia Dursley—know not.**

* * *

 

_When Harry sneaks alone out of the war-torn Hogwarts Castle after Tom Riddle’s ultimatum on the second of May in 1998, he knows he is going to die. As his fingers toy with the golden snitch in his pocket, Harry realizes that however much the idea once appealed to him—however many of Dumbledore’s plans within plans within secrets required him to be the willing martyr—he doesn’t really want to die. Sure, he’s bone-weary. Sure, he’s living a life that’s never been his to live. But he can imagine one that is._

_One where he can race Victor Krum on a professional Quidditch pitch or take Hagrid to Romania to visit Norbert. One where he’ll move into his first place and realize Hogwarts doesn’t teach any housekeeping spells, and laugh with Hermione when he calls her up and they both realize it was one thing they never bothered to study during a million hours in the library together. One where he’ll probably trip while proposing to Someone down the line, because isn’t that his luck? One where Someone will manage to, in between laughs, snort out ‘yes’ anyway…_

_Harry doesn’t want to die, but he goes into the forest anyway, not because he thinks, anymore at least, that his life is worth less than those of the people back at the castle, but because he loves them all fiercely. Before he does, however, he retrieves the resurrection stone and—because he knows now it’s not a weakness to ask for help—says: “Mom, Dad, I’m afraid.”_

_“We’ll be with you until the very end, Harry.”_

* * *

 

**This is the story of how Harry Potter Will Never Be Fine, and that’s okay.**  

* * *

 

_There is no hesitation at King’s Cross, and no hesitation when Voldemort faces Harry across the Great Hall and demands to know how he survived_ again _, how he stole mastership of the Elder Wand: “Wouldn’t you just like to know, Tom?”_

_Harry is the one to raise his wand first, because while in another life he may have given poor abused Tom Riddle, so like Harry himself, one more chance at redemption, in_ this _life Harry has learned that people only change when_ they _want to—Tom Riddle doesn’t want to change any more than Aunt Petunia does._

_And Harry is done wishing for other people to change while they hurt him and the people he has learned to love and who taught him how to love and live over the past seven years._

_After all is said and done—the cheering and  tears, the congratulations and adulation—a friend asks him: “—and tomorrow? What then?”_

_Harry looks forward to the fuzzy future he’s just beginning to flesh out, and because he’s always been the pragmatic sort, he replies, grinning: “Sleeping in for as long as the nightmares let us.”_

_Harry knows he will always have scars: the visible ones and the ones that curl at the back of his mind more insidiously than any horcrux. He still has trouble asking for help. He still is wracked with the occasionally guilty confusion when he catches himself missing Aunt Petunia. Neither the end of the war nor adulthood brings any sudden wisdom: he still has mostly no idea what he’s doing. But neither, it seems, does anyone else really. So maybe it’s okay._  

* * *

 

**This is the story of how Harry Potter learns that Love is a stronger magic and greater knowledge than anything they can ever teach you in school.**

* * *

 

_Harry Potter [Master of Death, Savior of the Wizarding World, Vanquisher of Voldemort, Order of Merlin First Class, etc.] does not care for titles. He never has. Nor does he care much what the Ministry and the wizarding world expect a war hero to do and say. For the first time in his life, Harry can look towards his future and know that it is entirely his—and even though he has no idea what he wants it to look like, he’s not afraid it. Not when he is surrounded by friends and found family who are helping him build enough good memories to smother the bad ones—because finally,_ finally _, building memories is something Harry looks forward to._

 

_Because at the end of the day, despite everything, Harry Potter is the Boy Who_ Lived _—not just survived. And that’s one title he’s beginning to appreciate._  

* * *

 

**This is the story of how, if you can Love yourself, you will be alright.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you need help or advice on the topic of abuse, please don’t hesitate to message me or leave a review; there are a tone of resources out there I can direct you to.
> 
> If you wanna talk about this headcanon or would like to see a more detailed fic that expands on characters and ideas only mentioned here (Dudley Dursely, Harry’s Sorting, Snape’s fate, etc.) please please please do review!


End file.
